JP4566516B2 - Method and apparatus for manufacturing catalytic converter - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of manufacturing a catalytic converter is described where the catalytic converter is comprised of an outer tube member having a monolith substrate internally compressed therein with a wrapped mat material surrounding the monolith substrate and intermediate the outer tube. One or more monolith members can be applied within the outer tube and heat shields may also be applied internal to the outer tube and adjacent to the monolith substrate. The assembly of the catalytic converter includes measuring the sequence of compression of the mat material to the monolith substrate in order to understand the possible force characteristics which can be applied during the assembly thereof. The mat material is therefore compressed within the outer tube by way of compression jaws, by compression rollers, and/or by spinning. The compression of the mat material can be in single or multiple steps.

Description

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for manufacturing a catalytic converter , and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for manufacturing a catalytic converter used to reduce air pollutants in vehicle (or automobile) exhaust gas.

The vehicle applications, it is common to require a catalytic converter in an exhaust system of a vehicle, the catalytic converter is typically disposed between a vehicle engine exhaust manifold and the muffler. As disclosed in US Pat. No. 5,482,686, a catalytic converter typically includes a monolith substrate and a mat material surrounding the substrate, the monolith and mat material comprising a cylindrical tube, bimetallic ( bipartite) encapsulated in a container or other circular or non-circular metal container. In general, both ends of the mat material are sealed against the inner surface of the metal housing.

One of the requirements of this design is to compress the mat material between the outer metal housing and the monolith substrate. According to the normal specifications of catalytic converters , there must be a minimum pressure between the mat material and the monolith substrate, thereby holding the monolith substrate in the outer tube. At the same time, the specification sets the peak pressure during manufacture on the monolith substrate. The purpose of having a peak pressure is that when a large force is applied on the monolith substrate, it tends to break the substrate along its cross section. One of the difficulties of working with such a substrate is that there are several different geometries and different geometries have different fracture (cracking) characteristics. Furthermore, the monolith substrate has a tolerance of +3 mm to −1 mm in diameter. Therefore, the deformation itself cannot be measured. Furthermore, it is conventional to monitor the manufacturing process for such destructive properties so that the catalytic converter can be properly manufactured by optimizing the load between the mat material and the monolith without destroying the monolith. It was impossible.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,273,724 discloses the manufacture of a catalytic converter that includes a core that is held in a case formed by two shells. During the manufacture of this converter , both shells are brought together under pressure, the core is held between them, and then the shells are welded together. This reference teaches that the maximum pressure applied to the shell by the press can be controlled by an electronic or barometric control valve and can ensure that the pressure applied to the shell does not exceed a predetermined maximum pressure. However, this reference does not teach determining the fracture characteristics of the core prior to compression of the outer tube in order to ensure efficient compression of multiple outer tubes during a continuous manufacturing process.
International Patent Application No. WO 99/32215 discloses an additional method for producing a catalytic converter . The catalytic converter disclosed in this reference includes a monolith substrate and a mat that are compressed within the outer shell of a container. However, the invention disclosed in this reference relates to resizing the outer shell of the container after the combination of monolith substrate and mat material has been inserted. The resizing of the outer shell is based on a mathematical formula based on the diameter of the substrate, the target thickness of the mat and the wall thickness. Further, the outer shell of the container is reduced to a predetermined diameter based on the calculation result of the predetermined mathematical formula. However, this reference does not teach the measurement of the fracture characteristics of each converter core and the determination of the most efficient reduction curve based on the measured characteristics.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for manufacturing a catalytic converter that overcomes or reduces such problems.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing a catalytic converter including an outer tube, a monolith substrate, and a mat material surrounding the monolith substrate. This method of manufacturing a catalytic converter is constituted by a process of establishing the fracture characteristics of a monolith substrate by radial compression of various time bases using a combination of the monolith substrate and a mat material. Next, an appropriate compression sequence is selected, the monolith substrate is not destroyed, and the mat material is placed around the monolith substrate. Next, the mat material and monolith substrate combination is inserted into the outer tube, and the outer tube, mat material and monolith substrate combination is compressed according to a predetermined compression sequence so that the monolith substrate does not break.

  According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the outer tube is radially deformed inward to compress the combination of outer tube, mat material and monolith substrate. One method of radially deforming the outer tube is to compress and swage (thermally deform) the tube. A second method of radial deformation of the tube is to reduce the diameter of the outer tube by spinning (squeezing) a combination of outer tube, mat material and monolith substrate.

  In any of these alternative methods, the mat material and the monolith substrate are partially compressed prior to the deformation step so as to preload the mat material. The mat material and monolith substrate may be compressed together and then moved longitudinally into the outer tube. This is done by radial compression at the compression station. Alternatively, the mat material and monolith substrate may be radially compressed by a roller.

  According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the process further includes necking down both ends of the outer tube to a small cross section. This is done by necking down both ends by spinning, so that both ends have a smaller cross section than the rest of the outer tube. Preferably, a funnel-shaped heat shield is inserted into both ends of the outer tube and in the vicinity of the monolith substrate before the spinning process, and the outer tube is subjected to a spinning process so that both ends are substantially heated. The heat shield is held at a predetermined position by spanning down (reducing the diameter by spinning) so as to coincide with the cross section of the shield.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for manufacturing a catalytic converter comprising an outer tube, a monolith substrate and a mat material surrounding the monolith is performed by first inserting the mat material around the monolith substrate. The mat material is then partially and radially compressed against the monolith substrate. The mat material and monolith substrate combination is then inserted into the outer tube. Finally, the outer tube, mat material and monolith substrate combination are compressed together.

  According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the mat material and monolith substrate are compressed together and then moved longitudinally into the outer tube. This is done by one of the following two methods. The mat material and monolith substrate are radially compressed at the compression station, and substantially all of the mat material is radially deformed simultaneously. Instead, the mat material is radially compressed by a roller, and the mat material and monolith substrate are moved longitudinally by a roller station so that the mat material is sequentially compressed as it moves along the roller, The mat material and monolith substrate combination is moved longitudinally into the outer tube.

  This tube must also be compressed. This tube can be radially deformed by compression swaging. Alternatively, the tube may be a radial deformation of the outer tube, mat material and monolith substrate combination to reduce the outer tube diameter.

  Moreover, the both ends of a tube are necked down so that it may become a small section in a substantially funnel shape. Both ends of the tube may be necked down by spinning so that the diameter of the tube is smaller than that of the other part of the outer tube. Also, in a preferred embodiment, before the spinning step, a funnel-shaped heat shield is inserted into both ends of the outer tube and in the vicinity of the monolith substrate, and the outer tube is subjected to a spinning process so that the cross sections at both ends of the outer tube are heat shielded. The heat shield may be spanned down to substantially match the cross section of the heat shield.

In another version of the invention, a method is provided for manufacturing a catalytic converter comprising an outer tube, a monolith substrate and a mat material surrounding the monolith. The manufacturing method includes a step of inserting a mat material around a monolith substrate, a step of partially compressing the mat material against the monolith substrate, a step of measuring a force applied to the mat material, and a predetermined force. It comprises the step of determining the variation necessary to obtain (incremental) deformation.

  A novel gauge member according to the present invention for determining a predetermined deformation required to obtain a predetermined force applied to a monolith material by compression of the surrounding mat material surrounds the mat and the monolith material and is at least partially matte And means for compressing the monolith material, means for measuring the force or pressure resulting from compression of the mat material, and means for measuring the compression diameter or deformation of the mat material deflected.

  An assembly machine that assembles the mat material around the monolith material and compresses the outer tube around the mat material includes the gauge described above. Preferably, the assembly machine further comprises control means for taking its force or pressure data and its diameter or deflection data and supplying that information to the compression means.

According to the method for manufacturing a catalytic converter according to the present invention, it is possible to compress the monolith substrate without destroying it and to manufacture it efficiently and relatively inexpensively (that is, economically). Therefore, the catalytic converter manufactured by this method has excellent performance.

Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of a preferred embodiment of a method and apparatus for manufacturing a catalytic converter according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1, an example of a catalytic converter manufactured by the process of the present invention is indicated generally by reference numeral 2 and includes a mat material 8 having an outer tube member 4, a monolith substrate 6, and an end seal member 10. Contains. Further, the catalytic converter 2 optionally includes a first heat shield member 12 having a neck-down portion (or a constricted portion) 14, thereby forming an internal air gap 16. Further, the catalytic converter 2 includes a second heat shield member 20 having a neck-down portion 22 that forms an air gap 24. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the mat material 8 can be a stainless steel mesh type material or a non-flammable fiber type material. In any case, the mat material 8 is compressible, but when compressed in combination with the monolith substrate 6, the mat material 8 and the outer tube 4, transfers force from the mat material 8 to the monolith substrate 6 and is equal. The reaction force is transmitted to the outer tube 4.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a force-time curve is shown where the Y (vertical) axis represents the force transmitted from the mat material 8 to the monolith substrate 6 and the X (horizontal) axis represents various times, i.e. It represents the compression time of mat material 8 (assuming compression of the same depth). Thus, the first curve C1 quickly reaches the peak force, ie F1, when the mat material 8 is compressed rapidly, ie within T1 seconds. Here, F1 is greater than the force required to break or rupture the monolith substrate 6, or higher squid also might than the pressure that is allowed by the manufacturer. However, if the mat material is compressed for a long time, ie, T2 seconds, and causes the same deformation, a smaller peak force F2 is reached, as shown by the second curve C2. Finally, when the mat material 8 is compressed for a longer time, that is, for T3 seconds so as to have the same deformation, the peak force F3 is reached as shown in the third curve C3. As will be appreciated from this, any time and variation can be added and accommodated, all depending on the desired end result.

  Therefore, each time the monolith geometry (size and shape) is different, the peak breaking force of the monolith substrate 6 is measured so that the pressure (psi) against the monolith substrate 6 does not exceed the maximum threshold (threshold) during manufacture. To. For a given monolith substrate 6 and manufacturing specification, the cycle time is minimized to provide the most efficient process. Also, according to the process described herein, force and / or pressure is measured and the process is repeated.

For example, according to general or typical manufacturing specifications for catalytic converters , a minimum pressure of 30 psi exists between the mat material 8 and the monolith substrate 6 after completion of the manufacturing process, and the mat material 8 and It is necessary that the peak pressure between the monolith substrates 6 does not exceed 100 psi. Therefore, knowing the burst pressure for this particular manufacturing specification and the test described with respect to FIG. 2, minimizes the time to compress the mat material 8 and reduces the cycle time, and also reduces the monolith substrate 6 during the manufacturing process. It is possible to establish a manufacturing process that guarantees that it will never break or will not be at a pressure higher than the set engineering specification. Any of the force curves C1 to C3 can be a multiple step process. In other words, the compression performed between the mat material 8 and the monolith substrate 6 may be one step or multiple steps, where the subcomponents (components being manufactured) move the station sequentially.

  The process according to one version of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIG. 3 and FIGS. A loading device 50 for loading (inserting) the monolith substrate 6 surrounded by the mat material 8 will be described with reference to FIG. The loading device 50 includes a central U-shaped loading (insertion) station 52 for positioning the outer tube, and includes gauge devices 54 attached to both ends of the U-shaped loading station at both ends. The gauge device 54 will be described. Since both the gauge devices 54 are the same, but are mirror images of each other, only one device will be described. These gauge devices 54 help the mat material 8 and monolith substrate 6 in the outer tube 4 in the present invention and measure the force and / or pressure that the mat material 8 applies to the monolith substrate 6.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the gauge device 54 generally includes a vertical platen portion 56 and a bracket portion 58 attached to the platen portion 56, and further includes a cylinder stand 60 as an extension thereof. As will be described later, a cylinder mechanism 62 is attached to the cylinder stand 60. The gauge device 54 further includes a plurality of pressure roller assemblies 64. In the preferred embodiment, the pressure roller assembly 64 is arranged as a radial array around the tapered lead-in (introduction) member 66. Next, the insertion (gauge) device 54 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The bracket portion 58 includes a U-shaped wall portion 70 having a vertical wall portion 68 and a side wall portion 72. The vertical wall 68 includes an opening 74 that advances into a tapered opening 76 and then toward the pressure roller assembly 64 as described below.

  Referring to FIG. 5, the cylinder mechanism 62 may be an atmospheric pressure or hydraulic cylinder, and includes a cylinder portion 80 having a rod portion 82 and a pusher (pressing) portion 84. The pusher portion 84 is located within the U-shaped wall 70 and is substantially axially aligned with the tapered opening 76. Finally, the pressure roller assembly 64 also includes a cylinder portion 90 having a rod portion 92 operatively coupled to the roller 94. Roller 94 has an arcuate profile (as best shown in FIG. 3), is radially aligned with and coincides with the arc shape of roller 94, and has a substantially circular cross-section.

  Referring to FIG. 7, a spinning apparatus 100 is shown, and the spinning apparatus 100 includes a chuck jaw (gripping means) 102 that is common to a conventional spinning apparatus. These chuck jaws 102 are moved onto the radial line so as to hold the circular member for the spinning process. The chuck head 104 generally rotates in the clockwise (right) direction when viewed from the front of the head, and this is indicated by an arrow in FIG. Here, the pressure roller 106 (held by a pressure arm (not shown)) applies pressure to the outside of the contour of the outer tube 4 for the spinning process, and is itself held by the rotating shaft and driven. It is a roller, not a drive roller. As shown by arrows in FIG. 7, the pressure roller 106 is movable in both directions of the longitudinal axis and moves in the inner radial direction, thereby changing the diameter of the object to be spun.

With reference to FIGS. 3, 5, 7 and 8, a first method of manufacturing a catalytic converter according to the present invention will be described. Referring to FIG. 3, in this step, an object such as the outer tube 4, which is simply a straight tube, can be placed in the U-shaped portion 52, and both ends of the tube are positioned with the lead-in member 66. It is matched. Next, the monolith substrate 6 with the surrounding mat material 8 is placed in the U-shaped wall member 70 and aligns the U-shaped wall member with the cylinder 62. At this point, referring again to FIG. 2, recall that the deformation of the mat material determines the force and pressure characteristics applied on the monolith substrate 6.

  Thus, as will be appreciated, the control mechanism 110 is included to control the speed of the cylinder 62 and pressure roller assembly 64 and to record the force / and pressure on the monolith. When driven, the pressure roller assembly 64 causes the various rollers 94 to move radially inward. For example, input data via cable 112 is used to control radial motion and thus compression. At the same time, the output data is collected by the force data, ensuring that the peak pressure is not exceeded and knowing the applied force. This output data is fed forward to the control mechanism and then to the spinning device to ensure that the overall pressure is within specification. The input / output data is used for speed control and measurement of the cylinder 62 and the resulting cylinder rod 82 and pusher member 84. Accordingly, the speed of the pusher member 84 determines how quickly the mat material 8 is compressed against the tapered opening 76 and the plurality of rollers 94. There is further compression during the entry of the mat material 8 into the outer tube member 4 into the taper member 66. However, all of the compression and force characteristics of the monolith substrate 6 are determined and the only variable in the control process is the speed of the cylinder rod 82 and the same results are continuously reproduced during manufacture and are commercially acceptable. Set the cycle time. This data is also fed forward to the control mechanism and then to the spinning device.

  As shown in FIG. 3, two monolith substrates 6 are simultaneously inserted from both ends of the outer tube 4 so that both monoliths are adjacent to each other. However, it will be appreciated that the number of monolith members is not essential to the present invention and that multiple monolith members or a single long monolith substrate 6 can be inserted.

At this point in the process cycle, the two monolith members are pre-installed in the outer tube 4 and pre-stressed and removed from the U-shaped member 52 and moved to the spinning device shown in FIGS. It will be understood. Also, as will be appreciated, when prestressed between the mat material 8 and the monolith substrate 6 in the outer tube 4 , the mat material 8 does not have sufficient pressure on the monolith. Thereafter, the force of the mat material 8 and the resulting pressure are partly due to the force curve C1, C2 or C3. At the same time, input / output data from both the cylinder 62 and the pressure roller assembly 64 is fed forward to the control mechanism via respective cables 112 and 114 before full force / pressure is applied. This controls the rest of the spinning process according to the selected curve of FIG.

  Next, referring to FIG. 7, the combination of outer tube 4, monolith substrate 6, and mat material 8 is inserted into spinning device 100 and captured in chuck jaw 102. Next, according to the spinning process, the spinning head 104 starts spinning (rotating) toward its maximum speed. As a result, the pressure roller 106 starts applying pressure to the outer tube 4 at the front end of the outer tube 4, that is, the tube end protruding from the head 104. As shown in FIG. 7, the spinning process reduces the diameter of the outer tube 4 to a diameter D1, ie, its initial diameter, to a diameter D2 to provide a contracted end 30. This entire process is performed based on input data that is fed forward to the control mechanism via cable 116 in both radial depth and axial speed.

  As can be seen, in the process step of FIG. 7, due to the fact that the outer tube 4 is chucked (gripped) by the spinning head 104, the entire length of the outer tube 4 is not spun in this step. Rather, after the tube 4 has been spun into the shape shown in FIG. 7, the spinning head 104 stops and the partially spinning outer tube is removed from the head and flipped around it, The completed part is inserted into the head. As a result, the remaining portion of the outer tube 4 is spanned to the same dimensions as previously spanned. Also, as will be appreciated, the spinning process, ie the step of changing the diameter from D1 to D2, compresses the mat material 8 between the outer tube 4 and the monolith substrate 6. It will also be appreciated that the compression time according to the force-time curve shown in FIG. 2 is calibrated in relation to the axial speed of the roller 106 associated with the spinning process. In other words, if the moving axis speed of the roller 106 in the spinning process is fast, it is determined which of the curves C1 to C3 the force characteristic of the mat material 8 on the monolith substrate 6 follows.

Next, an alternative manufacturing method of the catalytic converter will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 6. As shown in FIG. 4, the insertion mechanism 150 generally includes a U-shaped tube holder (holding device) 152 and an insertion mechanism 154 attached to the opposite end of the U-shaped holder 152. The U-shaped holder 152 generally includes a vertical platen 156, a bracket member 158, a cylinder stand 160 and a hydraulic cylinder 162. The vertical platen 156 holds the compression member 164. Referring now to FIG. 6, the compression member 164 includes a pneumatic cylinder 190 having a rod 192 attached to a semi-cylindrical compression jaw 194. These pressure jaws 194 are aligned with the tapered lead-in member 166 and the U-shaped tube holder 152.

  The embodiment of the insertion mechanism 150 shown in FIG. 4 can be used for the same spinning mechanism 100 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 by the following processing. First, the outer tube 4 is placed in the U-shaped holder 152, and the cylinder 162 moves the monolith substrate 6 and the mat material 8 into the compression jaws 194, respectively. When the monolith substrate 6 is aligned laterally within the compression jaw 194, the cylinder 190 is driven to compress the mat material surrounding the monolith substrate 6. Again, this compression and time is performed by a selection sequence, ie, any of the characteristic curves C1-C3 shown in FIG. When the mat material 8 is compressed into place, the cylinder 162 is driven again to move the monolith substrate 6 into the outer tube 4 via the taper member 166. At this point, the loaded outer tube 4 and monolith member are moved to the spinning device 100 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 and processed in the same manner as described above. As will be appreciated, the input / output data is again used in a manner similar to that described above.

  Next, another method of the spinning process will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, an internal heat shield as indicated by reference numerals 12 and 20 is preferably arranged in the outer tube 4. First, as shown in FIG. 9, the heat shield 14 is inserted into the open end of the outer tube 4 in the vicinity of the position of the monolith member 6 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 11, the spinning process is started, the extending portion of the outer tube 4 is spun, and the tapered portion 30 becomes a taper that substantially matches the cross section of the heat shield 12, and is formed so as to conform to this. Is done. Similar to the spinning process described above, the partially-spun outer tube 4 is rotated 180 ° to the position shown in FIG. 12 to receive the other heat shield member 20 and to show the inside of the outer tube 4. It is inserted at the position shown in FIG. The spinning process is continued to spin the tapered portion 32 adjacent to the heat shield 20 together with the outer diameter of the outer tube 4.

  Next, still another method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The method includes a loading device 250 that includes cylinder assemblies 262 disposed at opposite ends of the bracket portion 258. However, in this method, pre-compression by the compression roller or the compression jaw is not performed. Instead, the monolith member 6 is moved to an intermediate portion of the outer tube member 4 ′. Here, the diameter D3 of the outer tube 4 ′ is slightly smaller than D1. Next, the pre-assembly of the outer tube 4 ′ and the monolith member 6 is moved to the spinning device 100 shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, and subjected to the spinning process according to one of the force compression sequences shown in FIG. 2. As can be seen, due to the fact that the mat material 8 and the monolith member 6 are hardly prestressed, all of the compressive forces, ie all the curves of the force curves C1-C3, are shown in FIGS. Can be added in the spinning process.

  Although this method is illustrated only for circular or cylindrical tubes, non-circular tubes are also possible. In that case, the insertion device includes modified compression jaws similar to those shown with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, which are dimensioned to correspond to non-circular objects. Further compression of the entire outer tube is used, where the mat compression cycle is completed by incremental compression. This device is further referred to in FIGS.

In FIG. 18, a gauge member 254 is illustrated and accepts a combination of mat material 8 and monolith member 6. Then, as shown in FIG. 19, the combination of the mat material 8 and the monolith member 6 is compressed at a predetermined compression rate. This information, ie the force applied from the monolith to the shrink die and the compressed diameter of the mat material 8 and monolith member 6 combination, is supplied (or input) to the control mechanism 110. This information is fed forward to the shrink die 300 (see FIG. 20). Here, the combination of mat material 8 and monolith member 6 can be placed in outer tube 4 and placed in shrink die 300. The diameter from which the mat material 8 is compressed along with information from the gauge member 254, ie the pressure applied to the gauge (which corresponds to the force applied to the monolith member 6), along with the specific force characteristics of the mat material 8 used. When fed forward, the shrink die 300 can accurately determine what further compression is required for the outer tube 4 combination.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 23, three different mat materials were tested to determine the dimensions that need to be compressed to obtain a given force. FIG. 24 is a graph showing compression dimensions for compressing a mat material having a thickness of 12 mm to obtain various forces.

  25 to 27 are graphs showing estimated data of a specific mat material. Here, FIG. 25 shows the pressure vs. time characteristics of a mat material that gives a constant rate of deformation. However, if deformation or acceleration of shrinkage, eg, according to FIGS. 20-22, is decelerated, as shown in FIG. 26, the peak pressure is removed to completely eliminate spikes in the pressure curve of FIG. Is possible. This deceleration is markedly shown in FIG.

Thus, any of the embodiments of gauge members 54, 154 or 254 described above have the advantage or advantage that the shrinkage or deformation applied to the mat material at the gauge station can be measured along with the force applied to the gauge. As described above, this force is the same as the force applied to the monolith member . Thus, the control mechanism 110 has pre-loaded data for each mat material used, and therefore collects this data as described above and achieves a specific force on the monolith compared to the force curve, thereby It is possible to know the change in deformation that is applied. Further, as described above, the monolith substrate has a tolerance of +3 mm to −1 mm. Therefore, when the change in diameter is 4 mm from +3 mm to −1 mm (that is, the change range of the diameter of the monolith substrate), if the mat material and the monolith substrate are compressed or deformed to a predetermined diameter, the change is added to the mat material and the monolith substrate. It will be easy to understand that the powers produced have dramatic consequences and are never accepted.

The preferred embodiments of the catalytic converter and the manufacturing method thereof according to the present invention have been described above in detail. However, it should be noted that such examples are merely illustrative of the invention and do not limit the invention in any way. Those skilled in the art will readily understand that various modifications and changes can be made according to a specific application without departing from the gist of the present invention.

1 is a cross-sectional view of a preferred embodiment of a catalytic converter manufactured in accordance with the present invention. It is a virtual force-time characteristic curve figure in compression of mat material. 1 is a view showing a first embodiment of a gauge device for loading a monolith substrate into a catalytic converter tube. FIG. It is a figure which shows 2nd Example of the gauge apparatus similar to what is shown in FIG. It is an enlarged view of the gauge apparatus shown in FIG. It is an enlarged view of the gauge apparatus shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the apparatus which further reduces the diameter of an outer tube, and its 1st process process. It is a figure which shows the subsequent process of the process of FIG. It is a figure which shows the manufacture sequence of the catalytic converter by which a heat shield is arrange | positioned at both ends. It is a figure which shows the manufacture sequence of the catalytic converter by which a heat shield is arrange | positioned at both ends. It is a figure which shows the manufacture sequence of the catalytic converter by which a heat shield is arrange | positioned at both ends. It is a figure which shows the manufacture sequence of the catalytic converter by which a heat shield is arrange | positioned at both ends. It is a figure which shows the manufacture sequence of the catalytic converter by which a heat shield is arrange | positioned at both ends. It is a figure which shows the manufacture sequence of the catalytic converter by which a heat shield is arrange | positioned at both ends. It is a figure which shows the alternative process of assembling a catalytic converter. It is a figure which shows the alternative process of assembling a catalytic converter. It is a figure which shows the alternative process of assembling a catalytic converter. FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the apparatus including a reduction die that reduces the diameter of the outer tube. FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the apparatus including a reduction die that reduces the diameter of the outer tube. FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the apparatus including a reduction die that reduces the diameter of the outer tube. FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the apparatus including a reduction die that reduces the diameter of the outer tube. FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the apparatus including a reduction die that reduces the diameter of the outer tube. It is a table | surface figure which shows the deformation | transformation of three types of mat materials which obtain each force level. It is a graph which shows the thickness-force characteristic of 3 types of mat | matte materials shown in FIG. It is a graph which shows the pressure-time progress data in a constant reduction speed. 6 is a graph showing pressure on a monolith substrate at a variable reduction speed. It is a graph which shows a reduction speed-time characteristic.

Explanation of symbols

2 Catalytic converter 4 Outer tube 6 Monolith substrate (monolith member)
8 Mat material 10 End seal member 12 First heat shield 20 Second heat shield 22 Neck down part 50, 250 Loading device 54 , 154, 254 gauge device 62 Cylinder 92 Roller 100 Spinning device 110 Control device 150 Insertion mechanism

Claims (16)

Production of a catalytic converter comprising an outer tube (4), a monolith substrate (6) and a mat material (8) surrounding the monolith substrate, wherein the monolith substrate and the mat material are compressed in the outer tube. In the method
Compressing the monolith substrate and the mat material in two stages, pre-compression and secondary compression, wherein the secondary compression compresses the outer tube around the monolith substrate and the mat material;
Measuring force-time characteristic data of the monolith substrate and mat material combination in the pre-compression stage;
Selecting an appropriate compression sequence based on the measured force-time characteristic data such that the pressure applied to the monolith substrate does not exceed a maximum threshold value for breaking the monolith substrate and the cycle time is short;
Compressing the outer tube, the monolith substrate and the mat material combination in the secondary compression stage according to the selected compression sequence;
A method for producing a catalytic converter, comprising: The catalyst of claim 1 , wherein the measured force-time characteristic data is fed forward to the secondary compression stage so that the pressure on the monolith substrate does not exceed a maximum threshold during manufacture. A method for manufacturing a converter. The method of manufacturing a catalytic converter according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the monolith substrate and the mat material are radially compressed in the pre-compression stage. It said mat material and the monolith substrate, the manufacturing method of the catalytic converter according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it is a radial compression in said pre-compressed in the compression station. The method for manufacturing a catalytic converter according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the mat material and the monolith substrate are radially compressed by a roller.   2. The method of manufacturing a catalytic converter according to claim 1, wherein the outer tube is radially deformed inward in the secondary compression stage to compress a combination of the outer tube, the mat material, and the monolith substrate. 3. . The method of manufacturing a catalytic converter according to claim 6 , wherein the outer tube is radially deformed by compression swaging. The catalytic converter according to claim 6 , wherein the outer tube reduces the diameter of the outer tube by spinning a combination of the outer tube, the mat material and the monolith substrate with a compression device. Manufacturing method. It said mat material and the monolith substrate, the manufacturing method of the catalytic converter according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it is inserted in the longitudinal direction into the outer tube. 10. The method of manufacturing a catalytic converter according to claim 9 , wherein the mat material and the monolith substrate are radially compressed at a compression station during the pre-compression. The method of manufacturing a catalytic converter according to claim 10 , wherein the mat material and the monolith substrate are radially compressed by a roller during the pre-compression. The method for manufacturing a catalytic converter according to any one of claims 1 to 11 , further comprising a step of necking down both ends of the outer tube to form a small cross section. 13. The catalytic converter according to claim 12 , wherein both ends of the outer tube are necked down by a spinning process so that the diameters of the both ends are smaller than the remaining diameter of the outer tube. Method. Before the spinning process, a funnel-shaped heat shield is inserted from both ends of the outer tube into the end of the monolith substrate, and the outer tube is subjected to a spinning process so that both ends of the monolith substrate are connected to the heat shield. The method of manufacturing a catalytic converter according to claim 13 , wherein the heat shield is held at a predetermined position so as to coincide with a cross section of the heat exchanger.   2. The method of manufacturing a catalytic converter according to claim 1, wherein the mat material and the monolith substrate are pre-compressed and then inserted longitudinally into an end of the outer tube. In the manufacturing apparatus of the catalytic converter which implements the manufacturing method of the catalytic converter in any one of Claims 1 thru | or 15 ,
Compression means for compressing the monolith substrate surrounded by the mat material and the outer tube;
A gauge device for measuring the force applied by the mat material to the monolith substrate during the compression operation by the compression means;
A controlling means to follow the appropriate compression sequence by controlling the force added during the compression operation to the monolith substrate and the force time exerted by the compression means based on the output data of the gauge device Production equipment for catalytic converters.

Images